Together We Fall
by Troublesome Dragon
Summary: Arthur is depressed. The world isn't what it used to be. With rumors of his possible assassination and/or suicide spreading, Kiku and Ivan have taken it upon themselves to build him a bodyguard. The only problem, they have purposely designed her to look and act like America. He's not very keen on keeping her around, but she may be the key to uncovering the nations' dirty secrets.
1. Love me

Love me

He pressed his hand against the glass and openly ogled the naked body inside. This copy had the same muscular frame, buoyant blond locks, and grey blue eyes as Allison. She was nearly a perfect replica, and he absolutely hated her. Did they think he was a fool? Did they truly think they could replace America and he wouldn't know the difference? Poppycock, England would not allow this idiocy to continue. Without thinking twice about it, he ripped the wires and tubes apart keeping this thing alive. Much to his satisfaction, the thing started to writhe in pain and shriek in obvious agony. Or perhaps, the electricity pulsing through his body gave him the needed push to feel again, and damn, electricity hurt. His heart tried to keep up with the sudden battery charge, but he collapsed, breathing heavily. If he wasn't a freak of nature, the voltage would have killed him.

Arthur tensed as he heard big heavy and most definitely Russian footsteps coming his way. No, he couldn't get caught, especially here of all places. England had barely escaped being thrown into an insane asylum. The court had deliberated for days, and the only reason he hadn't been convicted was because he had cut a deal with Canada at the last second. So long as he kept his mouth shut about the less than pleasant conditions of some of the facilities in the outskirts, they wouldn't lock him in a cell. Why should he care about them anyway? America had cared, and she ended up dead because of it. Those people probably wouldn't even remember her name in another year or so. Canada was trying hard to erase every trace of her. He looked at the struggling body in the glass tube and sighed. Unfortunately, Russia had other ideas.

Then again, there was no England, America, Russia, or even Canada anymore, just the world. The world had no other name. The only reason he called himself England these days was to keep himself sane and separate. Yes, only part of the whole now, but still himself, he had to remember that.

But more importantly, he had to get up. And he tried, so very hard to lift himself up, and yet, for so long, he had done nothing but sit in a chair signing paper work that he didn't really have the strength to get up as if the electricity hadn't effected him at all. Of course, he'd survive, but it would take him a while to recover.

The door opened. England couldn't bare to see and closed his eyes. For so long, he had managed to stay separate and just like that, his freedom was gone. There was - there was laughter. He didn't move. The clod prodded him with his big fat foot. When he didn't react, Russia kicked him. Instinctively, England clutched his stomach and gasped for breath.

" I see you found your little present. Too bad, Arthur has ruined surprise. Kiku worked so hard to make it for you," Russia said, crouching down to meet his eyes, all the better to mock him in his debilitated state. England glared. They knew perfectly well that this was the last thing he wanted.

"And what is it for exactly? No one spends time, effort and money to make one old man feel better," he said. This was most definitely a trap. Allison had proven popular with the masses, but most commissioners were glad to have her gone, not that they'd ever admit it now that she was dead. Russia chuckled and punched him in the arm.

"Lighten up, Arthur, you don't look a day past twenty five."

England rolled his eyes, tell that to his ailing body. He wouldn't have minded Ivan so much if he didn't try so hard to be friendly. Arthur was well aware Ivan was pissed.

"I don't feel twenty five."

Russia patted his back. England winced. His large hand stung.

"That is because Ivan kicked you in stomach. Try to pay attention."

England grit his teeth. Yes because he hadn't noticed at all. If only he wasn't paralyzed in a warm numbing embrace, Russia looming over him was a lot more unsettling knowing that he was powerless to stop him should he try anything else.

"You haven't answered my question," England said, once again, attempting to push himself off the ground. Russia didn't give him the option of proceeding. He put his foot on England's back and pressed down. Again, England felt a sharp pain spread throughout his body and any air left in his lungs was rudely pushed out.

"She was made to protect you, and you almost killed her," Russia said. His attention focused on the suffering figure in the glass. The longer he stared and heard her pitiful cries, the more pressure Russia put on his spine. England sucked in a breath. He didn't see this ending well for him. Miraculously, Russia did not finish him off and instead gave him one final kick in the stomach.

"That wasn't such a nice thing for you to do."

England nodded. It was best not to give him an incentive to try that again. Russia paid him no mind and walked toward the glass tube holding the copy.

"I guess I'll just keep living by myself, then. No harm no foul," England said, managing to sit upright. Perhaps, it wasn't dead yet, but thanks to the onslaught of electricity, her nervous system was fried and unlikely to work without extensive repairs.

"Oh no, it is much too late for sabotage. She was nearly ready. Allison is alive," Russia said, breaking the glass- idiot. The thing had been thrashing and yelling nonsensically for a solid thirty minutes, simply releasing her from the constant supply of electrical energy wouldn't be enough.

"She is not-"

"Arthur?"

England gulped, even the voice was perfect. He shook his head. No, it couldn't be. America was dead. He had to remember that.

"Alive," he finished, sounding doubtful even to his own ears. She sat there staring at him, hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Are you okay?"

He didn't say anything. The thing was cold, wet, and shivering but otherwise showed no signs of permanent damage from the electricity. She did not try to get up, and he wondered if perhaps, she couldn't. Thankfully, England didn't have to find out for himself. Russia helped her up. When he was sure she could stand on her own, he let her go. The thing didn't move and never took its eyes off England. Russia didn't even spare him a glance and walked right passed him.

"I'll let you two get acquainted," he said.

"I don't want-" England started to say as he scrambled to get up and failed miserably. She wasted no time in helping him up. He pushed her aside and made a mad dash to the door. Russia did not rush his exit. No, he waited for the opportune moment and slapped England's forehead with his giant palm so he ricocheted backwards. He fell hard and groaned, even more so when she caught up to him and embraced him tightly. The thing didn't know its own strength yet.

"She runs on love. So, here is chance for you to kill her if you want. Somehow, I don't think you will," Russia said, blocking the exit with his massive body. He was just waiting for him to make a move. If only he could, the most he could do was flop around like a fish.

"Blast it all, why put me through this?" he shouted. This wasn't fair. The pain wasn't supposed to last. Grieve for a while, accept that she ceased existing, then, nothing, wasn't that the point of letting go? He was supposed to forget and move on. And, they brought this creature into this sorry place to break his defenses and let the memories run free.

"Because we need you alive," Russia said as if that made any sense. He could protect himself quite readily. They all could. He still considered the decision to put Russia in charge of security rubbish.

"I am alive so take your naked Barbie and decommission her," he said, attempting to forcibly remove himself from her embrace. She frowned at him, reminding him of a little girl holding a squirming house cat. She didn't know why he wanted to break free.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Arthur rethought his strategy. While he was recovering from the electrical damage, he couldn't overpower the stupid robot. So, his best bet was to intimidate it. He glared, making the sternest face he could manage.

"Let me go."

This did the trick wonderfully. She helped him up and dusted him off, taking two steps back when she realized that he was angry at her. She didn't take her eyes off of him though and smiled shyly. He didn't try to move. If he stumbled even slightly, she might be liable to latch onto him again. Russia still waited, and in his current state, England knew it was a stupid idea to even attempt to get past him by force. So, he turned to the stark naked girl, careful to keeps his eyes from looking below her neck now that she was conscious. ( He didn't want to lose his reputation as a gentleman after all.) And he did what Russia wanted him to do all along, he talked to her.

"I want to go home. Get this stupid oaf out of my way."

Russia wasn't expecting the punch to the gut he received in response, of that much England was certain. He couldn't help but smirk when Russia went down without a fight. Either he had gone soft or they should really reconsider how strong they make these things. But, his satisfaction was short lived as the robot lifted him up and carried him bridal style into the awaiting hallway. Did he mention she was naked? Because that started to matter much more to him now that they were heading outside. England did not want explain himself to the general public.

"Put some clothes on," he insisted. She stopped, concentrating on the wall.

"Clothes? But, my outer layer of skin already protects me from all of the elements. I don't need clothes."

Only the idea of facing Russia in his current condition stopped him from disowning her there and then. This was ridiculous. They hadn't put much effort into making her human or the least bit sensible.

"Listen here, if you are going to live with me, you are going to wear clothes. This is not optional. Understood?"

Her mouth formed an o before resuming its plastic smile. The expression wasn't reassuring in the slightest. Arthur hadn't really noticed how artificial their facial movements were. He had never been this close to a robot before.

"I see I need to activate human functions. Exiting safe mode in three two one,"

England realized his mistake. The machine had protected its mind from the electricity by shutting down everything but the bear essentials. He certainly didn't want a robot with feelings, considering his temperament, associating with it wouldn't lead anywhere good. No, he didn't want a robot at all.

"Hold on, just put on clothes, there isn't a need to-"

"Arthur, I'm . . . naked. Give me two seconds, do not, I repeat, do not move."

She set him down and ran back into the laboratory from whence she came. When she returned, the robot was wearing Russia's coat.

"Yeah, I don't think he's going to let you have that, try again," England said, tiredly. Ivan had more than enough reasons to hate him now. She shook her head. He scowled. So, apparently, the humanity function served to make the robot even more useless and disobedient. He purposely let the back of his head hit the wall. Yes, this was definitely an American model.

"He let me have it," she explained quickly, still defensive despite her claims.

"And why would he do that?" She just made him keel over two seconds ago for heaven's sake. She shrugged.

"He loves me. I don't know why. I just can sense it, but you-y-you hate me," she said, starting to tremble. He rolled his eyes. Yes, making a robot that fed off affection, brilliant, he didn't even want to think about how much money they wasted watching them repeatedly explode. Whatever, he might not like what they did, but he supposed at this point it did have some sort of feelings - fake or otherwise. He wasn't cruel.

So, he hugged her and patted her back. She clung to him like her life depended on it, and well, it did. He closed his eyes. Remembering things he didn't want to. And even if under the synthetic flesh there was a myriad of robot parts, she still felt warm, and old feelings returned that he wished would stay buried, stupid robot girl, stupid police state, stupid life. He released a shaky breath and ignored it. He was England after all. He was good at ignoring feelings.

"There, there, it's not your fault," he whispered. She nodded. He heard Russia get up before he saw him. The metallic infrastructure of the building tended to amplify sounds. England didn't budge because he already knew that Russia had accomplished what he wanted. They had him under watch.

Russia walked by them, turning around briefly, to acknowledge him with a nod. Reminding him that like it or not, he was part of the system.

"I will see you at the meeting this afternoon."

He said nothing else. Judging by the way she compulsively tightened her grip on him, Russia didn't have the best of intentions.

"Very well."

England watched him go. He didn't want to risk bumping into him again on his way out. So, he waited. The girl tapped his shoulder. He sighed. Right, she wasn't going away.

"Yes?"

"If I- If I listen, will you stop hating me? You didn't like that before so-"

"What information did they give you exactly?"

And the snappish tone made her back away, the same exact way as before, such simple programming, he wondered why they bothered making him keep her. She wasn't going to distract him if that's what they were thinking. Sure, this development had caught him off guard, and he'd nearly electrocuted himself out of commission, but that didn't mean anything. She was nothing more than a trite contraption. And, no memories they supplied her with were going to convince him otherwise.

"Nothing. They didn't . . . um- I have a list of things I shouldn't do because you don't like them,"

"Like what?"

"You hate people singing along to a song, because most of the time, they aren't very good."

England frowned, feeling oddly disappointed. Japan hadn't kept the original personality intact. He supposed he had no right to complain when he didn't want the thing in the first place, or else Japan might have asked for his input beforehand.

"Sing whatever you want I don't care." Besides, America's voice had actually been rather pleasant, well, when she was actively trying anyway. However, his indifference utterly distressed the robot.

"But-"

"Look, don't follow some silly instruction manual they implanted in your head, especially if you're going to keep looking like that. You're only going to upset me."

And, again, the poor robot seemed confounded. After all, the metallic creatures from what he'd seen had a very narrow mind set. He'd likely just had her disregard a good chunk of her programming.

"So, you don't want me to listen," she said, obviously trying to simplify his orders into something she could follow. Bah, England decided that steering her in the right direction wouldn't work. He'd have to elaborate a little.

"I'll make it simple. Unless I say otherwise, I don't care what you do," he said. Giving her vague but clear parameters, hopefully, this would be enough of a distinction to keep her from following that absurd list.

"Erm, sure, I can do that." she said. He had a feeling that she would end up following her programming anyway. Automatically returning to their previous settings was a fail safe that kept robots from falling into an infinite loop.

"What exactly is your purpose?" he asked.

She smiled, the change of topic welcome.

"Protection and companionship."

So, she was quite literally given to him to keep him from falling into a depression and/or getting assassinated, joy.

"Well, I don't need either of those things so why don't you go catch up to Ivan since he loves you _so_ much." he said, shooing her away. She continued to follow him, going so far as to take hold of his hand when he started walking faster.

"But I need to stay with you," she said earnestly. England wanted to bang his head against the wall. He was trying to reason with a robot designed to follow him everywhere like a devoted puppy and attack anyone that posed a threat to his person. Okay, he might want to try something other than simple aversion to get his way. And, this stray thought brought him to a logical conclusion. Who was the one nation that made it a point to avoid him as much as possible? America (well other than Scotland) so, he only had to say the word, and she'd naturally wander off on her own. He'd only have to slink away unnoticed from there.

"I want you to act like America. No more of this naive robot nonsense," he said. The results were immediate. She fell to her knees and clutched her head.

"Overriding basic functions, uploading American persona," she said, faltering repeatedly as if in actual pain. England hadn't expected it to be quite so dramatic. She continued to thrash repeatedly until she quieted, breathing heavily. When she finally did look up at him, she was grinning cockily.

"Arthur, you've been very very bad," she said, standing up and taking him by the arm. She pulled him with reckless abandon, and he struggled not to be dragged around like a teddy bear.

"Slow down."

She rolled her eyes. She had actually rolled her eyes at him. Great, this was even worse than the shy robot he'd been presented with originally. Not only did she basically have the same programming as before, she was much more hands on and creative about it.

"But it's taking forever to get out of here. I know a shortcut."

"No, you are going to get us lost."

She bopped him on the head.

"I know what I'm doing Arthur. Trust me."

Ow. He rubbed his head, watching the endless metallic corridors blur together as she ran with abandon with little regard as to how he was supposed to keep up with her. So, he let himself get dragged along, until she finally skidded to a halt.

"See, door, outside, simple," she said, again picking him up bridal style. Unlike before, she seemed quite aware of the connotations it invoked, judging by her smug grin.

"Oh sorry, this better?" Well, it was either this, riding piggyback, or being carried like a sack of potatoes so . . .

"Whatever."

"You're cranky."

"Yes, I suggest you get used to it." he said dryly.

"Hmm, but I need you happy or I'm going to run out of juice soon." She said, idly surveying the surrounding area.

The outside consisted of metallic stairs and walkways leading to buildings of varying quality according to which level and location one was in. London didn't have a trace of greenery left. All the air was artificially produced now. If one wanted the illusion of greenery, one lived in Scotland or Wales, they had invested quite a bit of money for that added luxury. He was fine with the change though. London had never been all that green in the first place. Man made creations had taken over the city long ago. It was only logical the rest of England would eventually follow suit.

"Too bad, I suppose you won't be able to fulfill your mission."

"That sucks," she said, kicking the rail. The rail snapped off and fell. There was a clang, but no one appeared to have been hit by it, thankfully.

"Oops," she said, backing away from the edge. He put a hand on her shoulder. Allison looked back at him distractedly.

"Yeah?"

"Forget protecting me, wouldn't you rather explore and have some fun on your own?" he asked. Allison sighed.

"No offense, but this place doesn't look terribly interesting."

England was sure that his face looked like he was about to implode. He took a deep breath. A few more minutes and she'd run away into the unknown. Maybe, even pick up where America left off, or not, she didn't seem . . . quite right, honestly.

"I'm sure you'd fine a way to entertain yourself."

She smirked, and, he was understandably uneasy. For the first time in a while, he was in quite a vulnerable position, and she was heavily aware of it. England decided he was never going near electrical wiring again. The electricity zapped away way too much of his strength, and in this political climate, a personification displaying weakness could get a country annexed into one of the larger nation states.

"Nah, we're going home," she said cheerfully.

"Excuse me? I never said I was going to take you in," he said, crossing his arms in protest.

"But, I'm protecting you. And, weren't you all about quartering soldiers? Besides, I'm a freaking robot that runs on an intangible power source. I don't even know how that's possible. Do not even pretend that I'm an inconvenience."

"Things have changed. You're a relic that they forced upon me," he hissed. She raised an eyebrow.

"Not really, you told me to act like America. So, I am."

"Then stop." She dropped him. Ow, he hadn't exactly recovered from his previous thrashing so the impact stung a lot more than it should. Allison offered him a hand. He took it.

"Come on, you don't mean that."

" This was a mistake. You're absolutely irritating this way."

And, all too similar this way too. Arthur should have known that it would trigger some fairly bitter sweet remembrances previously muddled, broken, and buried. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Arthur, I don't ever ever want to leave. Don't tell me that doesn't make you feel better."

He did, and dammit, he was loathe to admit it, particularly when he realized that he'd started crying. She rubbed his back and that only made him sob harder. England was like a broken faucet, and he had no idea how to stop the waterworks.

"Do you want to go home?"

Arthur nodded, still incoherent and clinging to her shirt. Allison picked him up and took him home. She easily forced the door open, breaking the lock in the process. He didn't complain. The lock wasn't very high tech. To most criminals, it would only be a minor inconvenience. She put him on the bed and tucked him in, pecking him on the forehead like a child. He couldn't bring himself to be embarrassed. He was somewhere else entirely, somewhere much less comforting. She seemed to realize that, judging by her frown. Part of him expected her to go away and do whatever robots did in their spare time, but she slid under the covers with him. This snapped him out of his melancholy fairly quickly.

"Get out of my bed."

She didn't back down. In fact, her stare was unnerving and eerily focused.

"You had a bad dream, close your eyes."

Taken back, England had trouble processing that. He was quite awake, even if he was reliving unpleasant memories.

"No, I'm-"

She put a finger on his lips and tried again.

"I didn't leave. I didn't die. I'm fine." she insisted.

He stiffened. She was trying to replace something that shouldn't be replaced.

" I don't love you. I'll let you starve before I believe for a second that you are her."

She started crying. Her tears had an unpleasant sterilized smell. Her arms, no better than a boa constrictor coiling around him, squeezed his torso, nearly cracking his ribs in the process. Luckily, her initial hurt ebbed and she let him go. Allison stood, refusing to look at him. She staggered noticeably on her way out. He turned over, just as she slammed the door behind her.

When England found her shut off in the morning, he had mixed feelings. Maybe, he wouldn't have cared if she hadn't been holding the damn stuffed rabbit he'd left on the table. He should have thrown out the stupid toy ages ago, but it had been one of the few things America had left behind that tangibly connected them, and blast it, he didn't want to throw that connection away.

The fact that she had reached for the toy before she lost consciousness, pricked his usually collected exterior. He made a mad dash for the couch and sat down. The first thing he thought to do was hold her hand. Nothing happened, and he berated himself for thinking something would. Clearly, he needed to do a little more than that. And yet, he still wasn't really all that comfortable with the idea of anything other than holding hands, but he also couldn't really live with the idea of a non functioning robot sitting on his couch for the rest of eternity. So, he got up, closed the blinds, sat back down, and pecked her on the cheek. For a minute, it looked like that hadn't work either. Then, she blinked, shivering slightly.

"I shut down. Didn't I?"

He nodded. Instead of getting up and jumping around like she was running on fresh batteries, she turned her back on him still holding the rabbit. Apparently, shutting down was a more traumatic experience than expected. He figured robots were usually programmed to deal with the occasionally accidental shut down as a minor inconvenience and move on. Then again, Japan obviously hadn't set out to build a typical robot with this model. England considered leaving her be, but there was the matter of her shutting down again shortly.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around visibly confused.

"I don't hate you."

This was enough for her to forgo the rabbit and latch onto him. He patted her back, attempting to stay positive and hold his temper. Her desperation didn't cease, despite holding him as close as possible without hurting him. In order to calm her down, he hummed the opera that he'd originally sang to America. Admittedly, by now, it was quite old and forgotten, instead of new and undiscovered, but it did the trick. She relaxed and loosened her grip. England sighed, glad that he could breathe again. He tried stroking her hair to soothe her further, but there was no need. She had already fallen asleep on him. There was only one problem. She wasn't holding herself up, and the weight of her body had him understandably gasping for air. She woke up, instantly getting off of him. After a period of awkward silence, she spoke.

"Sorry . . . about a lot of things, you're hurt, and I can't make it better."

Still catching his breath, he nodded.

"I don't need you to," he said.

She looked down at her clasped hands. Allison seemed genuinely sad, and he was starting to feel guilty. So far, he hadn't exactly made life easy for her, no wonder he was so alone these days.

"Then, what do you need me for?"

And instead of answering, he put the rabbit back on the table, facing away from them. England made no effort to look at her. She took his hand. He didn't fight it. When he didn't fight it, she took it a step farther and pulled him closer. England didn't protest. If he didn't think, he couldn't let the emotions run free again. Then, she whispered a very tempting proposition in his hear.

"Do you want to forget?"

He nodded, and they both entered the bedroom. He was late for the meeting that morning, and the others noted that his hair was somehow even messier than usual. Kiku, however, was more curious as to why the Allison robot continually avoided looking at either Ivan or himself. Only when it was his turn to speak did the answer dawn on him, he excused himself, successfully diverting attention from Arthur and his unexpected bodyguard. They both were very grateful for the change in topic. Matthew however wasn't remotely pleased by any of these developments. He could no longer afford to leave Arthur to his own devices. Not only that, he was going to have a talk with everyone involved. But first, he was going to have that thing decommissioned - publicly. For now, Matthew smiled and politely waited until the meeting ended before punishing dissenters. He still had manners after all.


	2. Forgive me

Forgive me

Allison didn't understand. She was supposed to make him feel better, and somehow, she had only made herself feel worse. Part of her remembered the word she associated with fallen sheets and a half empty beer bottle. The word that always made her weary of wearing any sort of skirt or v cut blouse. The reason that she was quick to smash someone's face in if they so much as looked at her wrong. She felt _cheap. _

Traffic conspired against them, and she was forced to make small talk. Arthur wouldn't even look her in the eye. She needed a smile or at least a warm glance to keep her going. And yet, she knew America would have long ago given up and ignored him. That's what made this so frustrating. Arthur wanted her to act like America, but she couldn't, not really. America enjoyed toying with him and going about her business until he approached her. Allison needed the attention to live, but it seemed Arthur was determined to deny her existence. She could probably replace herself with a plastic doll, and he wouldn't notice.

"Arthur, pay attention to me."

He tensed up like he might deliberately crash into another car simply because she was there. Instead, he clutched the steering wheel for dear life and kept his eyes on the road. She turned on the radio because that's what America would do and decided to stare out the window. Amazingly, he sighed and actually spoke to her. She felt pathetic for feeling happy about it.

"I'm sorry. I know you aren't exactly made to understand complex human emotion, but I just can't-"

She turned off the radio and gave him a dead serious look. He insulted her intelligence just because she was a freaking robot. Idiot. Arthur picked up on her sudden animosity and reluctantly took hold of her hand. Her circuits sparked with life and warmth spread throughout her body. The electricity coursing through her as efficiently as blood. The brief hand holding did what he wanted it to do. He distracted her long enough for her to forget her sudden frustrated feeling. This annoyed her, but she was so attuned to others emotions they came and went without much consequence most of the time. So, she turned around again and watched the cars pass by. Arthur sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed wondering why he only seemed to pay attention to her when she ignored him. Then, it dawned on her. Oh . . . America had him conditioned.

"Don't be angry with me. It's going to take me a while to . . . adjust. You're not exactly what I need right now," Arthur said, making her flush with anger. He had certainly needed her last night, but now, he was suddenly aloof and distant. Then again . . . he'd also been crying hard. Gah, she was so confused. Japan hadn't prepared her for this.

Actually, now, that she thought about it. Ivan and Kiku were using her as emotional black mail to force him to accept a body guard. Maybe, she could live off the occasional obligatory hand holding so long as he was still breathing. After all, she was a body guard first and a companion second. And, if he didn't want the company . . . she could adjust too.

"I'm not mad. You were never all that nice to me in the first place."

Eyes wide, she froze, unsure where that had come from. Allison checked her files and found the bitterness came from the America program that Arthur had so helpfully told her to install. She wanted to change the subject, but the damage had been done. What normally would have made him defensive and spiteful practically crushed him into tiny pieces. He quietly looked ahead of him like an old-timey robot and didn't respond.

Allison couldn't stand this depressing silence. So, she explored her new personality a little bit, scrambling to find something that would make him feel better. What could she say that would sound remotely comforting but still sound like something America might say? The answer didn't leave her with a lot of confidence, but she figured it was worth a shot.

"You wanna to stop for burgers?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. Allison wondered if she had made yet another mistake. Remarkably, he actually took them through a Mc Donald's drive through. (It's one of the few fast food places that survived the sudden health food craze and political attack on obesity America had cried when the legislation passed. ) He ordered two double cheeseburgers, a soda, and a salad. She had assumed the salad was for her and reached for it, but was surprised when he handed her the two burgers instead.

"These are for me?" Allison winced, knowing she sounded artificial. She needed to correct that. They ate in the car, or at least, Arthur did. She watched him pick at his salad. He seemed to like eating the little croutons first. There's something about the methodical way he ate his salad that kept her from looking away. Whatever hazy cloud he'd under lifted momentarily, and he answered with little difficulty.

"You always order two burgers."

Again, she was torn. Allison was both glad and worried that he was playing along. She was made to be America's replacement so treating her like America made sense, but at the same time, it couldn't be healthy for him to pretend America was still around. Allison finally looked away and just stared at the two burgers, willing herself to eat them. They were America's favorite food. This shouldn't be a problem. It's not like she could get fat, and burgers didn't taste as bad as Francis said they did.

"Are you not hungry?" Arthur asked. He kept watching her, and it was starting to feel like a test. One, she was about to fail.

She took a bite, worried she might depress him because she was so unlike the real America. The greasy tangy taste was pleasantly familiar, and she consumed it at near inhuman speed. She liked her fingers. Oops, she probably ate that too fast. Arthur didn't seem to mind, and the old America probably did scarf down her burgers like there was no tomorrow. Allison ate the other one just as fast, and was disappointed when she finished the second burger. She found herself craving a third. Taking a generous sip of her drink, she absently thanked Arthur for paying for her food. The rest of the drive wasn't so bad. Arthur's mood had improved considerably after the short trip.

But, they were late, and judging by looks on everyone's faces, this was an unspoken crime. She sat down next to Arthur and tried not to look at Ivan or Kiku. And, she wasn't even sure why. The America program said something along the lines of cows giving away free milk. There was a lot of muttering in the crowd.

Eventually, she forced herself to take a quick look around the room. These were her top suspects for Arthur's potential assassination after all. She dismissed Ivan and Kiku almost immediately. They wouldn't have made her if they were interest in killing him. Even if Ivan was a tall white haired man who for many years had scared the majority of the people he surrounded himself with, America's account of things showed that he'd mellowed out since their first confrontation. Kiku also hadn't relapsed succumb to his previous unsavory behavior for at least three centuries, and to America, he was usually above such suspicions.

Then, there was the left over twin Veneziano. His profile said the auburn haired ditz usually had his eyes closed while doing and saying silly things for his own amusement and was rarely an actual threat to others around him. Under recommendations, Ivan even suggested she try his pasta, provided Germany wasn't around to hog it all. According to her implanted memories, most of the time he was happy go lucky, but there were also small signs of a darker personality underneath the cutesy facade. America seemed to think it was coincidental as she sometimes sounded darker than intended as well.

Now, Arthur had fought Francis bitterly for centuries. However, both the information Ivan provided and her own personal archive showed the rivalry had ended sometime ago, and it was unlikely to be rekindled anytime soon. Ivan did recommend stopping potential spats before they started as their lack of cooperation sometimes derailed efforts to keep things efficient.

Yao's record again showed that his past enemies weren't particularly interested in destroying him. If anything, he was on better terms with Yao than almost everyone else in the room other than Kiku and Lugwig.

Germany she noted was an interesting case. Since WWII, their relationship had actually returned to its previously amicable state. Even before then, Germany's admiration for him was no secret. So, she again discarded the idea that he might be the killer, particularly when the America file didn't recall ever seeing them interact outside of the group for very long. Besides, the only arguments they had later were the usual political issues that plagued them all. In every sense, the relationship was rather vanilla.

Then, there was America's brother Canada. He again would normally be above suspicion, but her notes were contradicting. In the past, Canada wasn't particularly known for causing anyone else problems. When he did go to war, Britain or America were almost certainly the one who called him to take up arms. Later on, however, Ivan did make some vague reference to Matthew taking a very strong leadership position in the now dissolved United Nations along with its military program NATO. Stranger than the extremely brief note on Canada's not too distant past was America's justifying Canada's later acts as necessary without actually referencing any image files. All records of Canada's actions in the last few hundred years also seemed to have been wiped from the online records. Allison knew better than to outright accuse the leader of the group and simply made note of the suspicious cover up. What really made Allison nervous was that Arthur and Matthew were listed as witnesses to America's death and that both had refused to testify, leaving America's fate forever a mystery.

"So glad, you finally decided to join us Arthur. Were you talking to your little faeries again? You know what happens if you start talking nonsense again," Matthew said, taking an abnormal amount of pleasure seeing Arthur squirm. This so contrasted with what was on file, Allison watched dumbly, wondering if this was something she was allowed to interfere with. The American part wanted to lash out, and the robotic part told her to stay put and not interfere with official business. The robot part won.

"I go to the insane asylum. I'm well aware," Arthur replied quietly. No one seemed to care. Most eyes were on her. She was the topic of gossip, and it seemed that this was rather routine. Canada eyes met hers briefly, but he was quick to look away.

"Okay, let's get started. We'll talk about your conduct later, Arthur. Commissioner of International Relations, do you have any problems to report? "

Francis who had been chatting amiably with Veneziano answered with his usual superfluous flair. He might as well have been talking about a restaurant he liked.

"There is the occasional skirmish in the outskirts, but life in the city is divine. We've had no problem taking out the low lives that wish to destroy our good fortune. I require no help as of yet."

Francis reply immediately bothered her. He was brushing off people from highly volatile areas in favor of the upper class divisions. That didn't seem right. She checked everyone's reactions to see if she was the only one. They all seemed apathetic to the situation. England was doodling on his paper, a bunch of faeries and the like. No help there. She found Veneziano and Germany's reaction odd. He made a paper plane and threw it at Ludwig's head. Ludwig took the plane out of his hair and unmade the plane to look at the papers contents. He scribbled something down in his notes before crumpling up the paper up and throwing it in the bin. The rest simply sat there and nodded because again this must be normal. She didn't like it one bit. Allison raised her hand. Again, all eyes were on her. She smiled uncertainly, looks like she broke yet another unspoken rule. Matthew grit his teeth and clicked his pen repeatedly as he looked her over.

"Yes?"

Allison tried not to get intimidated. Arthur was uncharacteristically alarmed and shot her a look. The robotic part of her wanted to say never mind and let them move on to the next issue. The American part wanted them to discuss what was going on and not act like psychopathic monsters. The American part won.

"Shouldn't we do something to improve the lives of the people in those areas so we aren't always using force to subjugate them?"

Matthew frowned, not at all happy with her suggestion. The earlier mutters increased ten fold and even more paper air planes were strewn about. He didn't ask her to leave as she expected and instead, indulged the question.

"What would you do that would magically improve what we call the hell hole of the union? We give them water. They try to turn it into bombs. We give them food, and they chuck it back in out faces. Those people don't want to be helped Am- Allison. So, I suggest you shut up, and let those who know what they are talking about speak."

Allison did find the situation rather bleak after Matthew explained it. Then, a bunch of contradicting files from the America program made her erupt like a shaken soda bottle with the top off.

" Those are all lies. You're a liar, and you've been lying to us since you took this stupid job. You poisoned the water supply and drugged the food because you didn't want to deal with them." she shouted, panting heavily when she was done. They looked horrified, but that look of horror was directed at her. Veneziano tried his best to smile and calm her down.

"Maybe, you should wait outside."

Toxic. This whole place was toxic, and they were inhaling the fumes. She was about to explain why he should shut it when Arthur took hold of her hand. He wasn't looking at her this time either.

"Go now."

Two words and she clammed up like it was the end of the world. He sounded so serious, and they were looking at her like she was the problem. She was about to walk out when Matthew cut in.

"That won't be necessary. She can't help it. The thing is defective, and we'll deal with her after the meeting. Now, would the Commissioner of Energy please report."

Germany spoke, and much like before he reported that the interior was fine while the exterior was suffering from frequent blackouts. He avoided saying everything was fine for fear of making her lash out, but Allison was no longer interested in the meeting. Was she defective? Yelling at Arthur's potentially homicidal boss probably wasn't helpful. She was letting the America program influence her more than she should. Listening to that program was only going to get Allison killed just like the real America.

"Okay, let's see. Ah yes, would the Food Commissioner please stand up."

Arthur looked up from his drawings, startled. He obeyed, and the rest of the group appeared uneasy. Matthew adjusted his glasses and searched the stack of papers. Finding what he needed, he passed it to Arthur.

"Fill out this form, we need your permission to reallocate the food supply in light of recent events."

Matthew waited patiently. Arthur took out his reading glasses and checked the document. He frowned and ripped the paper in half.

"No, if I let you do this, people will starve."

Matthew sighed and shook his head. Again, his gaze drifted to Allison before responding.

"I don't think it's the starving people you're trying to impress. We'll talk about this later. Would the Commissioner of Technology please report."

Kiku stood, a little flustered by the recent drama. Yao tugged his sleeve and whispered in his ear. After that, he seemed to understand he wasn't required to stand up, but Kiku still didn't sit down. For the entirety of the meeting, he had been staring at Arthur and Allison as if trying to fit pieces of a puzzle together. His face paled after Allison broke eye contact with something akin to shame. Did he know?

Kiku ran out of the room. Allison blushed and hid her face. Yes, he did. Matthew if possible became more irritable. He snapped his pen in half before clearing his throat.

"While the Commissioner of Technology comes to terms with the horrors of creating life, why don't we move on? Commissioner of Peace please speak."

Veneziano straightened his tie and took out a chart. The chart consisted of two intersecting circles. He pointed to one side of the graph.

"These are the people happy with the current government."

He then put a frowny face sticker on the other side.

"These are the people who want to cause trouble and destroy our wonderful way of life."

The crowd snickered, and Matthew smiled in spite of himself. Finally, Veneziano addressed the intersecting area.

"And, these people don't like what is happening, but no longer care enough to complain. On the bright side, we haven't had an official war in five centuries so I say we're doing pretty good."

The other commissioners clapped, and it vaguely reminded Allison of school recitals in the old days when she would randomly attend her kids plays. People would clap no matter how much the kid sucked. The whole spectacle made her heavily aware that they knew there were problems, but they honestly didn't care enough to fix them.

"Finally, taking over for America , we have China joining us as the Commissioner of Freedom. Have there been any complaints?"

Yao was in the middle of a Sodoku puzzle, but briefly stopped to nod. Matthew tapped the remainder of his pen impatiently.

"And?"

"There were a few dissenters, but the nails that decided to stick out have been hammered down. There are no more complaints."

They all clapped again, and Allison found herself turning red for different reasons. She flipped the table over and lifted Yao by his collar. She would not let this stand.

"That is not what your supposed to do you idiot. Where do you get these people? Arthur shouldn't be in charge of food. Veneziano shouldn't be in charge of peace. And, this man shouldn't be in charge of freedom. When did all of you become so warped?" she shouted, throwing Yao back on the ground. Matthew smirked and got out of his chair.

"Well, that was different. Meeting dismissed. I'm sure the Commissioner of Security has nothing to report."

Ivan wore his usual big old smile, hitting his own hand lightly with a crowbar. Allison found herself wondering what happened to his old pipe.

"No one can break into my buildings but me. And if they do, I take out the rats quickly."

Ivan gave Arthur a meaningful look, but he wasn't in any condition to respond. The group scattered after Matthew gave Ivan an obligatory nod of approval. To Allison, they appeared to be running away from her, but why? She wanted them to see that something was horribly wrong. They had to have noticed how anything unpleasant was dismissed as soon as it was brought up.

"Arthur, Allison, I'd like to see you in my office."

Arthur didn't move, still clutching his papers. Allison walked over and tapped his shoulder. Somehow, his brain hadn't quite caught up with what happened. He pointed to the mess of scattered papers and flipped over table.

"You did that."

Allison nodded and helped him up. He put away his reading glasses and walked with her.

"Don't do that again," he said.

"Yes Arthur."

Why should she? The only thing she had accomplished was making herself look unstable. The hallway seemed to stretch forever, and Allison hated that they followed Matthew blindly. She even started to imagine the doors they passed contained grotesque experiments. They took a right turn that led to the lobby and directly in front of this lobby was Matthew's office. The walls, carpet and furniture were varying shades of white. The chairs inside Matthew's office were egg shaped, and Allison found them quite comfortable. Overall, the place was the exact opposite of the smoky black architecture outside. Matthew looked at them both wearily.

"Arthur, I'm afraid I can't have anymore of these outbursts and brazen acts of defiance. You're only hurting others when you deny people what they need. I assume that's why they gave you this pitiful excuse for a robot."

Arthur nodded, almost mechanically. Deciding he needed a little boost, Allison held his hand. Not only did he let her, he clung to it desperately. Letting out a shaky breath, he faced Matthew.

"I'm still not signing the papers."

Matthew broke another pen. He seemed to have packets of the stuff in his desk. Taking out another, he smiled warmly. Filling out a few forms, he handed them to his secretary before giving Arthur a white slip.

"Very well, we'd still like you to take a vacation. Unless you're willing to undergo treatment in the asylum, this is the best we can do for you. The countries and I agree that you haven't quite been yourself since the incident."

Matthew said, subtly referencing Allison. Arthur took the white slip and answered coolly.

"You would know, Canada. Come on Allison."

She stood, more than ready to get out of city center. Before they could go, Matthew blocked their path. Allison cracked her knuckles and prepared to clear the way.

"About that, we feel that due to her violent temper and unfortunate resemblance to America, she should be shut down. I'm sure you didn't want her in the first place. I trust this won't be a problem?"

Allison didn't think Arthur would comply. She knew everything America did, and Arthur wouldn't betray her like that. Or she didn't think so until he let go of her hand.

"You can have her."

"But Arthur-"

She tried desperately to reach out to him, but Matthew immediately held her back. Allison knew she had been deliberately designed not to be able to take on a country at full strength. She instinctively stopped struggling when Matthew whispered the code in her ear that told her servers that she was in the custody of a country and should comply.

"Sit down and relax."

The chair didn't seem so comfortable anymore. She lay there limply, staring back defiantly. Matthew stretched and watched her. Shaking his head, he poured himself a glass of scotch.

"They shouldn't have made you."

He took a tiny sip of his scotch and continued to look at her. America sat up but fell back down still as compliant as a rag doll because of her overly relaxed synthetic muscles.

"You're making a mess of things. Why am I always the one that has to clean up after you?"

Still struggling to get up, she scowled. Was he trying to confuse her? He couldn't possibly consider them one and the same.

"I'm not America. I'm Arthur's bodyguard. Please let me go."

Matthew laughed like she'd said the stupidest thing in the world. He took out an electric zapper and turned it on. She froze, realizing what exactly was happening. That thing would wipe her mind completely as soon as it touched her head. He took his sweet time getting to her, letting her struggle as he slowly moved closer to Allison's nearly immobile body. There was a knock on the door.

"I'm busy." Matthew said, about to let the zapper touch her forehead. The door was knocked off it's hinges, and Ivan came inside. He turned it off and sighed. Allison released the breath she'd been holding. Business came first, apparently.

"What do you want Ivan?"

Ivan immediately stepped between them. Being fairly large, Ivan blocked her view of the confrontation. She could only see Canada's clenched fist from where she was seated. Allison stopped trying to get up, thinking Ivan's huge body was a better deterrent than however much distance she could put between them by crawling away.

"I received an anonymous call that someone was murdering their robot. I thought I'd check it out."

" That's ridiculous. It's not murder if it's a robot. What are you doing?"

Picking her up, Ivan turned around. His usual plastered smile was replaced by a thin mocking one.

"I am in charge of security. I'm returning her."

Matthew tried to make himself look taller and poked his chest.

"He handed her over to me. Besides, Allison is a freaking robot. She doesn't have feelings.."

Allison stuck her tongue out at him. He turned the zapper back on and tried to electrocute her. Ivan grabbed his wrist and leaned in.

"New rule. This one does. "

Matthew dropped the zapper on the floor, and Ivan let go of his hand. Backing off, he sat back down in his chair and downed the scotch.

"I see. Tell Arthur to stop bringing that thing to work then."

Ivan's usual smile returned. Walking to his desk, he smashed the scotch bottle and pointed the jagged remains at Canada's neck.

"Her name is Allison. Please remember that."

Wet and confused, Matthew nodded. Ivan stared him down, narrowing his eyes.

"Repeat it."

"Allison."

"Good, Ivan will go now."

Allison wasn't sure why he went to the trouble to defend her, but she appreciated it all the same. She waved bye to Matthew, and he waved back albeit mostly to keep Ivan from snapping at him again. He carried her back home. Allison didn't mind being carried. Ivan released enough body heat to keep her charged for days. So, even if America would insist on walking, her self preservation kicked in. After all, Arthur tended to be rather . . . cold.

Arthur waited for them outside his apartment. Ivan set her down, and she ran over and hugged him. The hug she received in return was stiff and awkward, but she was glad to receive it nonetheless.

"Thank you. I wanted to avoid a scene."

Ivan rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"Ivan did not avoid scene."

Arthur muttered unintelligibly, rubbing the bridge of his noise (which he seemed to find quite hard to do while being hugged.) He sighed, accepting something happened without honestly wanting to know about it.

"Well, thank you anyway."

Ivan punched Arthur's shoulder. He winced but continued sporting a force smile.

"Smiling does not suit you."

Arthur's eyebrow twitched, but he showed no other outside signs of being offended. Allison let go of Arthur and hugged Ivan. He patted her head.

" I'm glad to see you're growing fond of each other. Now, I really must go. Kiku called. He locked himself in the bathroom."

Allison laughed awkwardly.

"Tell him, I'm sorry I lost my honor, and that I don't think robots can marry humans so please don't ask."

Ivan's laughed in a much more boisterous manner. He punched Arthur again, much harder than before and whispered Bliad. Allison kept laughing to cover up the increased awkwardness. Ivan gave her one final hug and left. Arthur sighed in relief and rubbed his arm.

"I don't like him."

"Of course not, he thinks you're a whore."

Arthur avoided her again. At least, this time she understood why.


End file.
